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MEMOIR 



OF 



BENJAMIN HANOVER PUNCHARD, 



THE FOUNDER 



or 



THE PUNCHARD FREE SCHOOL, 



ANDOVER, MASS., 



Who died April 4th, 1850, in the 51st year of his age. 






PEE PA RED AT THE REQUEST OF THE TOWN 



ANDO VER:j 
PRINTED BY WARREN F. DRAPER. 

1 857. 




A, 



< 



%> 



INTRODUCTION. 

The following documents, already constituting a portion 
of the history of Andover, must here be inserted, in order 
intelligently to introduce to the reader the subjoined memoir 
of the excellent individual who, by his munificence, has 
placed his fellow-townsmen under such imperative obliga- 
tion to cherish his memory, to improve his benefactions, and 
to imitate his example. 

" At a legal Town Meeting of the Inhabitants of the Town of Andover, 
held Nov. 11, 1850, the following Letter was presented to the Town for 
their consideration. 

To the Selectmen of the Town of Andover. 

Gentlemen : — The undersigned would respectfully represent, that, 
in the last Will and Testament of Benjamin H. Punchard, late of said An- 
dover, Esquire, deceased, there is a Bequest, in the words following : — 

" The residue of my property, not exceeding fifty thousand dollars, I 
give and bequeath to the Town of Andover, for the purpose of founding a 
Free School : forty thousand dollars for a permanent fund, for the sup- 
port of said School, and ten thousand dollars for the necessary buildings, 
etc., providing that, at my decease, if there should not be the said amount 
of fifty thousand dollars after paying the amounts first devised, then the 
said balance to be kept at interest till the amount is fifty thousand dollars. 
Said School shall be under the direction of eight Trustees, of whom the 
Rector of Christ Church to be one ; also, the ministers of the South Parish 
and West Parish Congregational Societies to be members ; also, the re- 
maining five to be chosen by the Inhabitants of Andover, in Town Meeting, 
to serve for three years ; two of whom to be taken from Christ Church 
Parish, two from the South Parish Society, and one from the West Parish 
Society. Said School to be free for all youths resident in Andover, under 
the restrictions of the Trustees, as to age and qualifications. No sectarian 
influence to be used in the School ; the Bible to be in daily use ; and the 
Lord's Prayer, in which the pupils shall join audibly with the teacher, in 
the morning, at the opening : the said Trustees to have the sole direction ; 
and power, also, to determine and decide whether the School shall be for 
males only, or for the benefit of both sexes. Said School to be located in 
the South Parish of Andover, but free for all the Parishes equally." 



4 

They would also represent, that there is a reversion of twenty thousand 
dollars, which is ultimately, by the terms of said Will, " to be paid over to 
the Trustees of the School, for which I have made provision in this instru- 
ment." 

The Will aforesaid has been duly proved, approved, and allowed, and 
the undersigned, named in said instrument as the Executors thereof, have 
accepted the trust, and given the requisite bonds for the discharge of its 
duties. 

They would farther represent, that they hope and believe the Estate 
will be sufficient to pay all the debts and legacies ; and they expect to be 
ready to pay said legacy of Fifty Thousand Dollars in the course of the 
next spring. 

Believing that it would be desirable for the Town to take some action 
upon this subject, at an early day, the undersigned have made their repre- 
sentations to your Board, in' order that the matter might be laid before the 
Town, at their next regular meeting. 

FRANCIS COGSWELL, 
JOHN FLINT, 
NATHAN FRYE. 
Andover, Oct. 7, 1850. 

The Town voted to refer the whole subject to the following gentlemen : 
N. W. Hazen, Esq., John Aiken, Esq., Dr. E. Sanborn, Dea. Solomon 
Holt, Mr. H. P. Chandler, Capt. Joseph Shattuck, Rev. B. Loring, Rev. 
P. Osgood, and Hon. G. P. Osgood, a Committee to report to the Town at 
an adjourned meeting. 



Report of the Committee. 

Dec. 16, 1850. — At the adjourned Town Meeting, the Committee sub- 
mitted the following Resolutions, which were severally read, considered, 
and adopted by the Town : — 

The Committee to whom was referred the whole subject relating to the 
Baquast made to the Town, in the last Will and Testament of the late Ben- 
jamin Hanover Punchard, Esquire, have had the same under their con- 
sideration, and report the following resolutions : 

1. Resolved, That we gratefully accept the Donation bequeathed in the 
Will of our late townsman, Benjamin Hanover Punchard, Esquire, for the 
foundation and maintenance of a Free School in the South Parish in this 
Town ; and we do, for ourselves and our successors, so far as in us lies, en- 
gage to execute faithfully the trust which this Bequest and its acceptance 
impose upon us and them. 

2. That it becomes us, as the contemporaries of our Benefactor, to record 
our testimony, to all future time, that the fortune thus devoted to the pub- 



lie use, was the gain of honest industry ; that its acquisition left no stain 
upon the justice of its late owner ; that his prosperity afforded fresh proof 
that his affairs are most successful whose conduct is governed by the strict- 
est probity ; and we do enjoin upon all who may be connected with this 
Charity, whether in its care and dispensation, or as sharing its benefits, the 
same rectitude which was uniformly displayed in his life, as the measure of 
their duty. 

3. That the example afforded by Mr. Punchard, — in the fidelity with 
which he performed all his engagements ; his assiduity and thoroughness in 
business ; his charities ; his purity ; his prudence ; his tenderness for the 
feelings, and his respect for the character, of others ; his humble piety, and 
the depth of his religious devotion, as evinced by the terms of his Bequest, 
— should be constantly set before all the youth, who shall ever hereafter be- 
come the recipients of his bounty, for their imitation. 

4. That we will cherish the memory of his many virtues ; that we recog- 
nize the obligations conferred upon us by his enterprise and success in add- 
ing to the wealth, and increasing the prosperity, of the Town ; and that we 
recommend to the Trustees under his Willy to whom he has so largely con- 
fided the superstructure of the School, to adopt the most effectual measures 
to associate his name and memory with the Institution which he has founded 
and so munificently endowed. 

5. That Rev. Samuel Fuller, Samuel Farrar and Francis Cogswell, Es- 
quires, be a Committee to prepare a Biographical Memoir of Mr. Punch- 
ard, and cause the same to be printed with the next Annual Report of the 
School Committee of the Town. 

In order to carry into execution the designs of the said donor, and in 
pursuance of the provisions of his said Bequest, we do farther resolve — 

6. That we choose, at this time, by ballot, five Trustees ; and that said 
Trustees, with those designated in said Will, be authorized and requested 
to receive from the Executors thereof, all such sum and sums of money as 
may be now due and payable to this Town, under the provisions of said 
Will, or that may hereafter become so due and payable, and to give proper 
and valid receipts and discharges therefor to said Executors. 

7. That the Trustees be directed to apply to the Session of the Legisla- 
ture next ensuing, for the passage of the Draft annexed, into an Act of In- 
corporation. 

8. That the Letter of the Executors, and this Report, be entered at 
length on the Records of the Town ; and that the Town Clerk furnish a 
copy thereof to the widow of the deceased, and to the said Trustees, and a 
copy of said Resolutions and Draft to said Executors. 

All which is respectfully submitted. 

N. W. HAZEN, for the Committee, Chairman" 
1* 



6 

The request contained in the Fifth of the above Resolu- 
tions, would have been complied with at an earlier date 
had it been sooner practicable to procure the necessary ma 
terials for the desired biographical sketch. These having at 
length been collected, the Committee gladly apply them- 
selves to the pleasant task ; being prompted to it not only 
by their readiness ever to serve their fellow citizens to the 
extent of their ability, but also by profound respect and 
cherished affection for the lamented deceased. 



Chapter I. 
Ancestry, birth, and early life of Mr. Pitnchard. 

Benjamin Hanover Pitnchard, whose personal virtues, 
as well as liberal bequests, have imperishably associated his 
name with the two Andovers, was born in the city of Salem, 
Essex county, Massachusetts, on the 16th day of December, 
in the year of our Lord 1799. 

His parents were William Punchard and Sarah, daughter 
of Benjamin Hanover, of Marblehead. 

William Punchard led a seafaring life, and was succes- 
sively commander of several merchant vessels, which sailed 
from the port of Salem. 

Miss Hanover was his second wife, and survived her only 
husband nearly thirty years. She died, aged eighty, Au- 
gust 10, 1838, in Andover, at the house of her only son, by 
whom she now reposes, near the remains, also, of her only 
daughter, Mrs. Rebecca Derby, in the grave-yard of the Epis- 
copal church in this village. 

Benjamin Punchard, the grandfather of Benjamin Hano- 
ver Punchard, likewise resided in Salem, as did his great- 
grandfather ; the latter removing thither from Lyndeborough, 
New Hampshire, although the family had previously been in 
Salem ; the name of William Punchard there appearing as 
early as the year 1680 ; to which place the Punchards origi- 
nally came, in that century, from the Island of Jersey, near 
the coast of France. 

More recently, the Hanovers emigrated from England' 
the maternal grandfather of the subject of this memoir hav- 
ing removed from that country to Marblehead. 

From his birth until his fifteenth year, B. H. Punchard 
lived in Salem. Some portion of the time he attended the 
common school, taught by Master Hacker ; but afterwards 
was a member of a private school, under the care of Mr. Jo- I 
seph E. Worcester, subsequently the celebrated English Lexi- '/ 
cographer. He also attended the school connected with the 



8 

Tabernacle Church, and taught by the late Rev. Edward L. 
Parker, of Derry, New Hampshire. 

Early characterized by intelligence and aptness to learn, 
Mr. Punchard was always a bright and good scholar ; and 
whatever might be the study pursued, stood at the head of 
his class, learning his studies so well, that he never forgot 
them. In consequence, he, from his youth, was a fluent 
reader, wrote a distinct and ready hand, and made rapid 
proficiency in mathematical pursuits, of which he was fond : 
attainments and preferences which, in after years, contributed 
greatly to his success in business. 

When he reached his tenth year, he lost his father ; and, 
in two years more, he left school altogether. At this time, 
some of the friends of the bereaved family proposed that he 
should be put to some handicraft occupation ; but his judi- 
cious mother, who appreciated the capacities of her prom- 
ising son, preferred to procure for him the situation of writer 
and copyist in the office of his relative, the late John Punch- 
ard, Esq., of whom he learned Book-keeping, and whose 
wise and pious counsels did much towards forming his open- 
ing character. 

Chapter II. 

Entrance upon business. Residence in Boston. Failure of 
health. Removal to Andover. Visits the South. 

At the premature age of fifteen, premature for the con- 
solidation and subsequent vigor of his physical constitution, 
he obtained a clerkship ; entering the office of his cousin, 
Joseph Ballister, a broker in Boston ; and from this time he, 
by his acceptable labors, wholly supported himself ; thus 
realizing the old theory respecting a young man's minority, 
that during its latter portion he ought, by his own exertions, 
to relieve his parents of all burden on his account. 

He was afterwards clerk in a wholesale West India store, 
where his energy, activity, skill, and diligence were such that 
unassisted he kept three sets of account books by double entry: 
a herculean task, which we may believe laid the foundation 



of his suffering, invalid life, and cut short his days some 
twerity years. 

Of the motives which, at this time, swayed him and 
nerved him for his slavish toil, we can now know nothing ; 
and yet we may suppose, that the desire to provide for his 
widowed mother and dependent sister, must have been 
among the influences which brought him early to his per- 
plexing desk, and kept him until late at night. 

A clerk who served him thus faithfully, would be eagerly 
retained by his employer, and advanced to a higher position ; 
and accordingly we find that when Mr. Punchard had been 
in these clerkships five years, and had completed his twen- 
tieth year, he became a partner in the West India house 
which he had, in a subordinate capacity, helped so effi- 
ciently. 

Thus actually in business for himself before he had at- 
tained his majority, he continued in partnership with Mr. J. 
W. Trull, his former employer ; receiving, from year to year, 
large returns for his devoted pains, until he was compelled, 
by utter prostration of his strength, to relinquish all employ- 
ment, and retire from the lucrative concern. 

Although, ten years previous, he had come to Boston a 
pennyless boy, he withdrew from the city, comparatively a 
rich man ; having, during the time, acquired the pecuniary 
means which enabled him to prosecute other business enter- 
prises with memorable success. 

It was in the spring of 1827 that Mr. Punchard first came 
to Andover, the town which was to be so highly favored by 
his labors, example, and benefactions ; and where his sleep- 
ing dust will repose until the morning of the general resur- 
rection. 

He brought his mother with him ; occupied, with her, a 
rented tenement in High Street, kept house, and passed his 
time in endeavoring to recruit his shattered health. 

It is from this date that, through his carefully written and 
minute journals, we begin to have an insight into his mind, 
tastes, and dispositions. He, no doubt, had a painful recol- 
lection of those sets of Boston account-books, and his weak- 



10 

ened frame retained their impression through life ; but as 
ledgers disclose few traits of character beyond mental accu- 
racy and manual neatness, they would not aid us in our 
present effort to unfold the man, even could we recover the 
well filled leaves. When, however, we read the record, by 
his own hand, of his daily life, as he works in his garden, 
rambles in the fields, rides, in his own conveyance, to adja- 
cent towns and villages, and even to distant as well as ad- 
joining States, the living, moving, observing, thinking, re- 
flecting, feeling individual is with us ; and although his 
voice does not speak, as when it was our satisfaction to lis- 
ten to his words of sympathy and encouragement, his soul 
is opened to our view, and we shall prove unskilful limners, 
if we do not sketch in such a way that others, too, may see. 

We discover, from perusing his diaries, that Mr. Punchard 
was a very close observer of every object and transaction 
which fell under his notice : the state of the weather; the di- 
rection of the wind ; the character of the lightning ; the 
occurrence of rain and snow ; the times of planting, sow- 
ing, and gathering ; the fragrance of flowers and blossoms ; 
the appearance of grasses, vines, fruit, grain, and trees ; 
the size and brilliancy of the moon ; and the motions of ani- 
mals. He was fond of rambling in the fields and woods, 
and gathering the productions of nature ; showing that he 
was truly one of her admirers. He also had an eye to archi- 
tectural proportion and beauty ; while, at the same time, the 
man of business appears at every step. Nothing escaped his 
open and keen eye ; and the results of his observation he 
treasured in his recollection for future use. 

In this way, he spent his first summer in Andover. 

His health remaining delicate, he in the autumn resolved 
upon a sea-voyage, which from his experience, while sailing 
from Boston to Charleston, S. C, must often be a most dis- 
tressing remedy, if remedy it be, for an impaired constitu- 
tion. So enfeebled was he, by his sea-sickness of some ten 
or twelve days, that when the vessel reached the wharf at 
Charleston, he was unable to walk, and was obliged to be 
borne by others to a hotel. 



11 

So soon as his health was restored, he is the same observ- 
ing man and lover of nature he was before he left New Eng- 
land. He gathers roses from gardens in the vicinity of the 
city ; and then, with the eye of a merchant and the heart 
of a philanthropist, minutes the arrivals and the number of 
vessels, as well as the amount of imports, attends the slave- 
auctions, records the prices, and deplores the existence of 
slavery. 

As the spring of 1828 opened, he, in his own carnage, sets 
his face towards the North ; and, with a mind for facts and 
statistics, eyes as he passes, successively, through Columbia, 
Camden, and Cheraw, in S. C. ; Fayetteville and Halifax, 
N. C. ; Petersburg, Richmond, Fredericksburg, ancj^Alexan- 
dria, Va. ; the wild birds, as they crossed his track, or sung 
in the forests ; numbers the stores, churches, public buildings > 
as well as the shops and mills ; in short, whatever would 
add to his stock of information, finds a place in his journal. 
Deprived, in his youth, of the advantages of schools and 
books, he was, as it appears, diligently acting as a self-edu- 
cator, using his own powers of observation, and thinking 
and judging for himself. 

This is, indeed, a very essential part in all education. 
So let the favored pupils who, from time to time, enjoy his 
bounty, ever remember. Let them traverse the hills and val- 
lies of Andover with the same searching eyes as he traversed 
our ancient township, and if they are allowed to travel, let 
them journey with their minds awake to everything that 
presents itself ; and, like him, they will not merely gather 
new stores of knowledge, but will acquire that most impor- 
tant possession, the power of self-reliance and independent 
judgment. 



12 



Chapter III. 

Andover Bank. — Mercantile connection. — Marriage. — Town 
reminiscences. — Marland Manufacturing Company. 

The same season Mr. Punchard returned home from 
South Carolina, in the spring of 1828, he became a large 
stockholder in the Andover Bank, which commenced ope- 
rations two years before ; and, at the time of his death, he 
had been, for many years, a prominent and influential Direc- 
tor of this institution, while, on one occasion, he had declined 
an election to its Presidency. 

In the' spring of 1829, he formed a mercantile connection 
with his brother-in-law, John Derby, and occupied the large 
wooden store at the beginning of Main Street, Andover, and 
near the Eagle Hotel. In this firm he continued for the 
term of five years. 

October 14th, of this year, Mr. Punchard was married, by 
Rev. Milton Badger, pastor of the South Church, to Miss 
Martha Lawton, eldest daughter of the late Abraham Mar- 
land, who himself was a native of the North of England, 
and the father of the extensive flannel-manufacturing in this 
vicinity. 

Here we may, to the enlightenment and gratification of 
some readers pause for a few moments, and contrast the An- 
dover that then was, with the Andover that now is. 

At that period, so unlike the present in many respects, 
there was not, as now, a wide and sweeping railroad, with 
double track, and its dozen daily trains, up and down, and 
extending, by two diverging routes, into every portion of New 
England, and to the distant Canadas ; but those were days 
when students and teachers, academical and theological, 
merchants, business men, and travellers, rode over the Bos- 
ton and Concord turnpike in stage coaches ; and merchan- 
dise was dragged, over the same road, in huge six-horse 
wagons, which, when loaded and on their tedious way, 
looked like small houses, moving slowly away from their 



13 

former sites. People did not then go to Boston and 
Lawrence to buy necessaries and luxuries, but flocked 
to the village stores ; and, in many instances, bartered 
the productions of their farms for imported articles. School 
Street, save as a road to the Hill, was a desolation ; and 
Main Street had not half its present number of dwellings. 
The Stone Academy, where so many hundreds of candi- 
dates for college-life have since had their minds stored with 
classic lore, had not been projected. The only houses of Chris- 
tian worship were the venerable Old South and the Semi- 
nary Chapel. The imposing city of Lawrence, with its 
teeming and increasing thousands, its castle-like factories, 
its chimnies incessantly sending forth curling columns of 
smoke,its numerous spires, its acres of working-rooms, and its 
scattered private seats overlooking, was a barren champaign, 
with only half-a-dozen poor houses ; and, at the old bridge, 
a rushing rapid, foaming over the opposing rocks. Methuen, 
on the northern ridge of the Merrimack, was the nearest vil- 
lage of any size, glancing across at Andover on the Northern 
slope of the valley, as her opposite neighbor, on the South- 
ern, peered across at her. 

Such was Andover of a bygone period, before the intro- 
duction of railways, which changed, not only our modes of 
conveyance, but also our methods of business and social con- 
dition ; and when Mr. Punchard and his partner in trade 
prospered in a store which since has perished for want of 
patronage. 

In the year 1834, the Marland Manufacturing Company 
was incorporated, and consisted of Mr. Abraham Marland, 
and his two sons, John and William Sykes, and his son-in- 
law, Mr. Punchard. 

To the interests of this new establishment, Mr. Punchard 
devoted all his diversified energies, and remained in it until 
the day of his death, a period of sixteen years. 

Messrs. John and William S. Marland, withdrawing from 
the Corporation after two years, and commencing manufac- 
turing operations at Ballard Vale, the first of the kind in 
that village, Mr. Punchard's cares and labors were propor- 

2 



14 



tionally increased. But temporal prosperity still attended 
him ; and it may be feared that he, at this time, sought no 



higher reward. 



Chapter IV. 

The establishment of the Protestant Episcopal church in An- 
dover. Mr. Punchard 1 s connection with it. Change of 
character. 

Memorable, in the personal history of Mr. Punchard, 
must ever be the Sunday, in the summer of 1835, when the 
Ht. Rev. Benjamin Bos worth Smith, D. D., bishop of the 
diocese of Kentucky, officiated in the Bank Hall. It was 
the first time that the worship of Almighty God, according 
to the prescriptions of the Book of Common Prayer, was 
ever conducted in Andover ; while this incipient service led 
to the establishment of the parish of Christ Church in this 
village, and under the overruling providence and grace of 
our merciful Redeemer, to an entire change in the spiritual 
character of Mr. Punchard. 

He was one of the individuals who, on Tuesday, July 
28, 1835, met for the purpose of considering the expediency 
of forming themselves into a religious body ; and his name 
stands first among those then chosen as a Committee to 
take legal action towards the formation of the society. 

The parish being duly organized on the 6th of August, 
by the appointment of two wardens and five vestrymen, 
the gentlemen engaged in the Christian enterprise resolved, 
early in the year 1836, to erect a church ; and among the 
original eighteen persons, who took portions of the joint 
stock, Mr. Punchard stands the second subscriber ; and his 
amount of shares is equalled but by one, his father-in-law, 
Abraham Marland. 

The first summer after the consecration of the church, Oct. 
31, 1837, Mr. Punchard was bereaved of his venerable mother, 
whose funeral, Aug. 12, 1838, was the first ever attended in the 
new house of God. To her he had ever been a kind and obedi- 



15 

ent child ; her pride and comfort in his younger days, and 
her staff and support in her old age. 

The afflictive bereavement proved to him a permanent 
spiritual blessing, greatly deepening the religious impres- 
sions he had, for several months, been receiving. 

After the organization of the parish, and the completion 
and occupation of the church, he was, as he afterwards con- 
fessed, often constrained by the Spirit of the Lord, from 
whom " proceed all holy desires and all good counsels," se- 
cretly to ask, Why am I giving my labors, and paying my 
money, for this church, without myself participating in its 
spiritual blessings ? There was no sufficient reason why he 
should not be blessed as well as many others, provided he 
truly repented of his sins, exercised confiding faith in the 
Son of God, and, in his strength, resolved to keep all his 
commandments. The venerable bishop Griswold had al- 
ready confirmed and admitted to the holy communion 
twenty persons in the congregation ; and their pious exam- 
ple, cooperating with the affliction Mr. Punch ard was suf- 
fering, and the searching inquiries arising in his mind, were 
urgent and persuasive inducements for him to endeavor, by 
fervent and importunate prayers for the renewing grace of 
God, to prepare himself for the next administration of the 
Apostolic rite. 

For successive generations, the Punchards were remarka- 
ble for their devoted piety ; the Christian faith of the ances- 
tors being, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, transmitted 
to their posterity. 

At no period of his life, neither in his boyhood and youth, 
nor in his subsequent years, was Benjamin Hanover Punch- 
ard ever either immoral or profane, but always virtuous 
and reverential. 

Most explicit and satisfactory is the following testi- 
mony of a distant relative, who knew him intimately for 
nearly forty years : — " His youth was unstained by any 
of the vices or indiscretions so common. He was ever, so 
far as I can remember, a sober, well behaved, moral, up- 
right, and trustworthy young man. Perhaps no one charac- 



16 

teristic is more prominent in my recollections of him, than 
the habit of doing everything, which he undertook, re- 
markably ivell. Neatness, order, and exactness, were 
early and abiding traits of character, which were always 
conspicuous. He was, from his childhood, a thoughtful, 
cautious, self-reliant boy. The only son of his mother, and 
she a widow, left in comparatively straitened circumstances, 
he was early trained in that direction. 

" After leaving Salem, he sustained the same character for 
integrity, promptness, and neatness in his work, that he had 
previously. I remember meeting, when a stout boy, one of 
his Boston employers, Mr. Danforth, I think ; and being in- 
troduced as a cousin of Benjamin, Danforth immediately 
said : ' Well, I hope you are as likely a young man as he. 
If you are, you will do ; ' or to that effect. 

" In his early life, his religious sensibilities were, I think, 
not particularly active. He was, strictly and consistently, 
moral and upright ; and, on his outward exemplariness, I 
think, he rested. Yet he was far from undervaluing more 
active religious feelings. When my own mind was, about 
the year 1826, particularly arrested, and directed to the ne- 
cessity of personal religion, 'cousin Benjamin,' as we always 
called him, was one of the first to whom I wrote. His an- 
swer was unexpectedly kind and encouraging." 

When he was twelve years old, he was deeply serious and 
earnestly prayerful. A fatherless boy, he looked to his Fa- 
ther in heaven for direction and grace ; and his early pray- 
ers were not offered in vain. " He will yet be a pious man," 
was the confident prediction of his venerable relative, in 
whose office in Salem he passed the novitiate of his success- 
ful clerkship, and who lived to see his devout expectations 
realized. 

After the erection of Christ Church, Andover, in the sum- 
mer of 1837, and the death of his mother the succeeding 
year, his gracious impressions, as has been already remarked, 
revived and deepened. When, with some twelve others, he 
engaged in the difficult enterprise of establishing this church, 
he does not appear to have been, at first, influenced by those 



17 

high and sacred considerations which subsequently swayed 
his mind. But, as the good work advanced, he was led to 
ask himself, as we have seen, these questions, Why am I 
doing what I am ? Why am I giving my money to this ob- 
ject? and the answer his enlightened and quickened con- 
science returned to these probing inquiries, brought him to 
perceive, that he himself had an undying soul, more precious 
than all conceivable riches, a soul for which he had not yet 
cared, and to determine, in the might of our Divine and in- 
carnate Saviour Jesus Christ, to make his own salvation the 
chief purpose of his future life. 

This is, in substance, his own account of the way God 
turned him to Himself ; for he distinctively stated to his 
Pastor, that the part he took in establishing the Protestant 
Episcopal church, in this town, and in the erection of its 
first house of worship, was, to him, through the grace of 
Christ conspiring, the decisive beginning of his spiritual 
life. 

How true are all the promises of Holy Writ ! No one ever 
tried them, and found them to fail. " There is that scat- 
tereth, and yet increaseth ; and he that watereth, shall be 
watered himself." 

It was in the evening of December 12th, 1838, that, after 
diligent and prayerful preparation on his part, Mr. Punchard 
was, in the building towards the erection of which he had 
contributed so liberally, and in the presence of the congre- 
gation and his " chosen witnesses," Abraham and Mary 
Marland, and John Derby, baptized, by the Rev. Samuel 
Fuller, Jun., into the faith of Christ crucified. 

This public profession of his Christian faith Mr. Punch- 
ard, the following Sunday, at the visitation of the Rt. Rev. 
Alexander V. Griswold, bishop of the Eastern diocese, rati- 
fied in the rite of confirmation, and ever after habitually re- 
newed in the holy sacrament of our Lord's body and blood. 

2* 



18 



Chapter V. 

Second failure of health. Visit to England. Description of 
Sir atford-on- Avon, the birth-place of the poet Shakspeare. 

The declining years of Mr. Marland necessarily devolv- 
ing the largest measure of the care upon his son-in-law, the 
constant oversight of such an establishment as the Marland 
Company, pressed so heavily upon the strength of Mr. 
Punchard, that his health, never firm, yielded a second time, 
and he was obliged to relax his labor and to leave, for a sea- 
son, his pleasant home. He was advised to try, again, the 
effect of a sea-voyage, somewhat protracted, and also the 
mild summer of Great Britain. 

For this reason, he preferred a sailing packet to a steamer, 
and left New York for Liverpool about the middle of April, 
1843. 

As we have already spoken of Mr. Punchard as a religious 
man, it is gratifying to discover with what prayerful feelings 
he contemplated his voyage and sojourn ; how affectionately 
he recurred to his former Christian privileges, and that he 
was evidently favored with the refreshing presence of his 
Saviour, to whose protection and blessing he solemnly com- 
mitted himself. 

While waiting, in New York, for a favorable wind, he 
thus writes, under date of April 15. As we read such dis- 
closures of his real character, his memory is greatly en- 
deared to us. " May God keep me under the shadow of his 
wing, be my Physician, and heal me ; and restore me to my 
dear family in safety. I feel that I am unworthy of so 
much blessing ; but I hope I shall serve him better, should 
he spare me in his mercy. 

" This is Easter Sunday. Would that I were well, and 
spending it with you, in our dear little church. I really hope 
that you will be well enough to enjoy the service yourself. 
I went to Grace Church, and enjoyed the prayers, the sing- 
ing, and the sermon much." 



19 

The tedious passage of twenty-seven days was very ex- 
hausting to his feeble strength ; so that when he, at last, 
landed at Liverpool, he was reduced, to use his own expres- 
sive phrase, to " fever standard." 

From Liverpool he hastened through Birmingham and 
Coventry, some one hundred and thirty miles, to Leaming- 
ton, in Warwickshire, where he spent several weeks recruit- 
ing his enervated health. Leamington is somewhat cele- 
brated for its mineral springs ; and, a very pleasant town it- 
self, is surrounded by a delightful region and interesting 
localities, many of which, as Warwick, the shire town ; War- 
wick, Kenilworth, and Blenheim castles; Stratford-on-Avon; 
Woodstock, and Oxford, Mr. Punchard visited at his leisure. 
His account of the day he passed at Stratford-on-Avon, the 
celebrated birth-place of the poet Shakspeare, contains sev- 
eral things which deserve to be copied ; since, even in these 
days of much travelling, every reader of these pages will not 
have been in Old England. 

" June 3d. After dinner, we proceeded to the old Parish 
church, which is a noble building, dating back to the Con- 
quest, but within two years repaired at an expense of §35,000. 
In repairing dilapidated structures, in England, the archi- 
tects take care not to destroy the ancient style of the build- 
ings. Everything is conformed, as nearly as possible, to the 
original pattern. 

" In this venerable church lie the remains of Shakspeare. 
They are in the chancel with his wife on his right, and their 
children on his left side. A bust of the poet is attached to 
the wall immediately over; while a slab covers the remains, 
with the following inscription, which I copy ' verbatim et 
literatim.' 

GOOD FREND FOR JESVS SAKE FORBEARE, 
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOSED HEARE 
BLESE BE THE MAN THAT SPARES THES STONES 
AND CVRST BE HE THAT MOVES MY BONES. 

" The church is two hundred and ten feet long, including 
the chancel ; and contains other ancient monuments and 
inscriptions. We paid the Parish Clerk and recorded our 
names in a book. Two pages back was the name of Queen 



20 

Adelaide, who had paid a visit a week or two pre- 
vious. 

" We then directed our steps to the house in which Shak- 
speare was born ; and were shewn into the chamber where 
he first drew breath. The house is a little, low building, 
about twenty-four feet wide, sixteen or eighteen high, and 
the floors of the lower rooms are composed of stones. The 
walls are covered with names, so close that one can hardly 
get in another. Here also they have albums, of which sev- 
eral are filled ; and we also wrote our names again. I ob- 
served those of Daniel Webster, Martin Van Buren, Wash- 
ington Irving, etc. 

" The old lady, the present proprietor, who has lived there 
twenty-two years, shewed us Mr. Irving's, at his third visit, 
and pointed out, on the book, this inscription in his hand- 
writing : ■ — 

' Of mighty Shakspeare's birth the room we see. 
That where he died, in vain to find we try ; 
Useless the search : for all immortal he ; 
And those who are immortal, never die.' 

"I will here observe, that the house in which he lived dur- 
ing the last part of life, was removed, or taken down, by a 
clergyman, who purchased the land and building ; but so 
sacred do the citizens consider everything here belonging to 
Shakspeare, that the purchaser was obliged to quit the place. 

" Towards evening, I took a walk down to Shottery, a 
mile and a half distant, where Shakspeare courted his wife, 
Ann Hathaway ; and a most delightful walk it was, in a 
path through the fields." 



Chapter VI. 
Visits to Oxford, and London. 

In the renowned city of Oxford, Mr. Punchard passed 
three days, from the 7th to the 9th of June ; and his descrip- 
tions of this far-famed seat of learning are as instructive as 
they are graphic and brief. 

" The city has something over twenty thousand inhabi- 
tants. The colleges are twenty in number, besides^fae Halls, 
which are on less foundations than the Colleges. 



21 

" Most of the Colleges have elegant parks and walks at- 
tached to them : some of great extent. For instance, that 
of Christ Church College has a walk (or mead, so called), 
on the banks of the river, nearly or quite two miles in cir- 
cumference. 

" Christ Church is a ' little world ' in itself. The college- 
buildings occupy four squares ; each of them nearly half a 
mile around. Only think of one mile of buildings belonging 
to one establishment ! 

" The cathedral of Christ Church is the cathedral of the dio- 
cese, and is ancient and splendid. The pulpit and organ are 
over two hundred years old. The windows are painted very 
finely ; the subjects all Scriptural pieces. The Prayer Book 
used in the cathedral is two hundred and seven years old, in 
scarlet binding and gold clasps. 

" The bell, perhaps the largest in the world, weighs seven- 
teen thousand pounds, and its clapper, three hundred and 
forty-two pounds. Every evening, at ten minutes past nine 
o'clock, this ponderous bell tolls one hundred and one times 
— the number of graduates on the foundation. 

" We also visited the Library, which is one hundred and 
forty-two feet long, thirty wide, thirty-seven high, enclosing 
one hundred and thirty thousand volumes. It likewise con- 
tains many splendid pictures ; some very costly. 

" The Bodleian Library, in a large building by itself, and 
common to all the colleges, is an immense establishment, 
and contains not less than four hundred thousand volumes." 



The colleges, which thus evidently excited such an inter- 
est in the mind of Mr. Punchard, are among the many Chris- 
tian institutions which are the glory of our father-land, and 
render it so great a blessing to the world. As we peruse 
his brief but emphatic notes of his visit to the university 
founded by Alfred the Great, we cannot refrain thinking that 
it is possible the sight of these extensive institutions, en- 
dowed by the munificence of a host of departed worthies, 
may have suggested to our observing townsman the idea of 
establishing, in our midst, a school which might diffuse, in 
all coming time, a measure of similar blessings. 

London, the largest city of Christendom and of the world, 
is sixty-four miles east of Oxford, and thither Mr. Punchard 



22 

hastened at the close of the week in which he had visited and 
admired so many celebrated colleges and churches. 

He passed only a few days in the metropolis of the Brit- 
ish empire, and yet in this brief period he saw and noted the 
most distinguished localities and objects which attract the 
curiosity and admiration of all travellers. 

" London surpasses what I had conceived. Its magnifi- 
cent parks, and public institutions, and capacious streets 
at the West End, are enough to strike one with amazement. 
I stopped at St. Paul's Coffee House, near the celebrated 
cathedral of that name. 

" Saturday, June 10, the day after I arrived, I walked 
eastward through the principal business streets, Cheapside, 
Threadneedle, King William, etc. ; saw the Bank, a beauti- 
ful pile occupying, with the courts, an irregular area of eight 
acres ; the Lord Mayor's Mansion, a magnificent structure ; 
the Monument, erected to commemorate the great fire of 
A. D. 1666, when the portion of the city burnt over exceeded 
four hundred acres ; Newgate Prison ; and several of the 
Bridges over the Thames — Blackfriars, Southwark, and 
London. 

" Sunday, 11th, I walked, in the morning, a mile and a 
half to church, and heard an excellent sermon from a minis- 
ter of the Establishment. The audience, some two thousand 
persons, three or four hundred of whom were obliged to stand, 
was very devotional and attentive. 

" Monday, 12th. In the morning, visited St. Paul's Ca- 
thedral, which covers more than two acres of ground. Saw 
the monuments to Dr. Johnson, Lord Nelson, bishops Mid- 
dleton and Heber, John Howard, Sir John Moore, Sir Wil- 
liam Jones, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and others. Entered the 
choir : at the entrance is an inscription to Sir Christopher 
Wren, the famous architect of the cathedral. Heard the or- 
gan, built in 1694, and esteemed one of the finest in Eng- 
land. 

" Then I took an omnibus for the West End. Rode through 
Fleet Street and the Strand to Charing Cross. From this I 
walked down to St. James Park, saw the Admiralty Office, 
and Horse Guards ; and then came to Westminster Abbey, 
nearer the Thames than St. Paul's cathedral, and a little 
west of Westminster Bridge. 

" Passed through the venerable pile ; entering at the Po- 
et's Corner. Conducted by a Verger, I saw the monuments 



23 

to Shakspeare, Milton, Addison, Thompson, 'rare Ben John- 
son,' Goldsmith, Gen. Wolfe, William Pitt (the first Earl of 
Chatham), and Warren Hastings. Passing through the oth- 
er parts of the immense building, saw monuments to Han- 
del, Watts (very large and fine), Canning, Major Andre (re- 
cently erected), Sir Isaac Newton, Granville Sharpe, etc. 
Although smaller than St. Paul's cathedral, which is the 
most magnificent Protestant church in the world, West- 
minster Abbey has five times as many monuments. I stood 
over the slabs covering the graves of the Henrys and Ed- 
wards and others, of the line of kings. Sat in the chair in 
which Victoria was crowned, as were her predecessors for 
centuries back. It is very ancient, not costly, and has a plain 
stone, similar to freestone, under the seat, brought from Scone 
in Scotland. 

" Entered the choir, celebrated for a mosaic pavement of 
inimitable workmanship. Saw also the flags captured by 
the British arms, from their enemies (none American). 

" Having surveyed this wonderful abbey, I passed over to 
Westminster Hall, said to be the largest roof, without sup- 
port from pillars, in the world ; two hundred and seventy 
feet long, seventy-four wide, and ninety high. Here were 
held the early Parliaments ; here the unfortunate Charles I. 
received sentence of death ; and here George IV. enter- 
tained four thousand persons at his coronation. 

" After dinner, took an omnibus to Oxford Street. Thence 
walked to a museum in Baker Street — Madam Tussard's, 
where I saw about one hundred representations in wax, said 
to be very perfect, of all the principal kings, queens, and war- 
riors of the last fifty years ; many of them dressed in the at- 
tire they actually wore. For instance : George IV. in the 
very robes in which he was crowned, and most splendid too. 

" Saw the carriage of Napoleon, which was taken at Water- 
loo, and sat in it ; also, Napoleon's swords ; held them in my 
hands ; his gold spoons and fork ; his repeating-watch, coffee- 
cup, counterpane, marked with his blood ; his camp-bed, on 
which he died at St. Helena, and the actual cradle of his 
only son, the king of Rome ; very elegant. 

" I worked too hard to-day ; rode, in omnibusses, eight 
miles ; walked at least five miles ; besides being six hours 
on my feet, walking through buildings, etc. 

" Tuesday, 13th. Attended the morning service, in the 
choir, at St. Paul's cathedral. The chanting and music 
were very fine. 



24 

" In the afternoon, went to the Pantheon, in Oxford Street ; 
an immense establishment for the sale of apparel, curiosi- 
ties, pictures, splendid plants, birds, etc. The building cov- 
ers nearly, or quite, an acre ; and four hundred persons, 
mostly females, are required to attend the tables. Saw a 
species of cactus in bloom, with over one hundred flowers. 
Price, .£10 ! 

"Wednesday, June 14th" [his last day in London]," visited 
the Tower, at the eastern extremity of the city, and covering 
twelve acres, skirting the Thames, where are the Armories 
and Jewel- Office, and where there have been many execu- 
tions of illustrious persons and numerous murders. 

" In the Horse Armory, saw the ancient armor of the Ed- 
wards and Henrys, actually worn by then?, and likewise that 
given by the city of London to Charles I. Its exterior is 
of gold. 

" Likewise saw the actual armor of Robert Dudley, Earl 
of Leicester, a favorite of Queen Elizabeth. Its weight is 
eighty-seven pounds. 

" Saw the block on which Lords Kilmarnock, Balmerino, 
and Lovat, of Scotland, were beheaded, in 1746 ; also the 
axe which beheaded Anne Boleyn, and the Earl of Essex ; 
and the cell in which Sir Walter Raleigh was confined 
twelve years. I was also shown ancient matchlocks, a can- 
non seventeen feet long, (Queen Anne's Pocket- Piece,) and 
the staff with which Henry VII. walked the city of London 
— a staff containing three pistols fired by match, nine spikes, 
and one spear. 

" In the Jewel- House, I likewise saw the crown-jewels, very 
splendid. Victoria's crown is valued at a million of pounds 
sterling. Here are several other crowns, and among them 
those of William IV. and Adelaide. Near them are scep- 
tres and swords of state and justice, besides some vessels 
of mercy — as the christening and communion plate, of solid 
gold, used at coronations. 

" This collection of royal jewelry, including the largest 
uncut diamond in the world, is estimated to be worth three 
millions of pounds, or $15,000,000!" 

After leaving the Tower, Mr. Punchard rode to the. Thames 
Tunnel, two miles below London Bridge. The Tunnel had 
just been opened for foot-passengers. The entrance is sixty 
feet below the surface. The whole length of the excavation, 



25 

under the river, is thirteen hundred feet ; its width, thirty- 
five ; and its height, twenty. 

He afterwards saw, up the river from the Tunnel, the St. 
Katherine and London Docks, the most extensive and finest 
constructions of the kind in the world ; the water of the 
docks covering more than thirty acres of ground. We con- 
tinue our extracts from his Journal. 

" In the afternoon, I took a cab to St. James's Park ; saw 
Buckingham Palace, the winter residence of Queen Victo- 
ria. I next walked in Hyde Park, where I saw, in abun- 
dance, the carriages of the nobility, with their liveried ser- 
vants, and the monument to the Duke of Wellington. Af- 
terwards I entered Green Park, and saw Apsley House, the 
Duke's mansion." 

From the pen of another, we add a more extended descrip- 
tion of the Parks of London than Mr. Punchard had time to 
write ; especially that of St. James's. 

" Through this green grass-covered Park stretches a lake, 
covered with every species of water-fowls, dotted with isl- 
ands, and appearing a thing full of life, by the little row- 
boats that float upon its surface. On the verdant banks of 
this lake, flocks of sheep are quietly grazing ; and a thou- 
sand children, full of life and gayety, are playing off their 
wild gambols. Along beneath the foliage-clad trees, through 
the serpentine walks on each side of the lake, you might see 
a mixed multitude strolling at their ease : ladies and nurses, 
with their several infantile charges, servant-men in livery, 
lords, bishops, and members of Parliament, merchants and me- 
chanics, princes and peasants ; presenting, as each one moves 
on in his own particular direction, a most animating scene. 

" Reflect, that this magnificent Park, embracing within the 
circle of its extended dimensions so many features of rural 
scenery, is in the very centre of London, and that, on one 
side of it, facing one end of the lake to which I have ad- 
verted, stands Buckingham Palace, the present residence of 
England's Queen. Could I adequately describe this beauti- 
ful spot, I would not stop at St. James's, but, passing along 
through Green, I would conduct you to Hyde Park and 
Kensington Gardens, where you might wander, for hours, 
beneath the shade of clustering trees, and over grounds car- 
peted with the richest green, and by the side of beautiful 

3 



26 

sheets of water ; and though you would meet with many a 
group of gayly-dressed men and women, moving to and fro 
across the wide area before you, you would occasionally 
reach a nook, where all seemed as quiet and as rural as 
though you were on one of the great western prairies ; yet, 
all this time, you would be in the midst of London. The 
beauty of this great metropolis is its noble parks. How true 
is it, that the works of God are infinitely more lovely and 
magnificent than the proudest achievements of human art. 
I have been struck with this, both in Paris and in London. 
The palaces of the French capital, and the galleries of paint- 
ing and sculpture, which are the boast of that proud city, 
struck me not with half the effect as the gardens of the Tuil- 
leries and the Champs Ely sees. And here, though the Bank, 
the Mansion House, the Terraces, St. Paul's, Westminster 
Abbey, and a thousand other edifices, can claim great archi- 
tectural beauty and magnificence, what are they in compari- 
son with the noble parks on the borders of which some of 
them stand ? And yet the green grass, the trees, the rich 
foliage, and shining waters, that impart to these expanded 
pleasure-grounds their beauty and attractiveness, are the 
works of God ! O that every view that we take of his 
works might lead us to love him more." 

Mr. Punchard's impressions resembled these ; for he says : 
" I am astonished at the extent and magnificence of Lon- 
don. In the morning, we passed through streets hardly ten 
feet wide ; but in the afternoon, through those which are 
hundreds of feet across. The former are the places of resort 
and residence of the people ; ; the latter, of the nobility." 

From these graphic descriptions of the Parks of London, 
we begin to conceive of them as something surpassing, in 
size, Boston Common, and the Squares of New York and 
Philadelphia ; and yet we are hardly prepared to learn, that 
the actual measurement of Green Park is fifty-six acres ; 
that of St. James's Park, eighty-seven acres; and that of 
Hyde Park, three hundred and ninety-five acres ; while Re- 
gent's Park contains not less than four hundred and fifty 
acres. In view of such surpassing open pleasure-grounds, 
in the heart of the British metropolis, we need not be sur- 
prised at the advice Senator Sumner once gave his Ameri- 
can friends, Not to lionize Englishmen when they visit this 
country. 



27 



Chapter VII. 
Visit to the North of England and South of Scotland. 

On his way from Leamington (to which Mr. Punchard re- 
turned after his visit to Oxford and London, and spent two 
weeks, in taking daily walks in its interesting vicinity) to the 
Northern part of the island of Great Britain, he successively 
passed through several towns and cities not unknown to 
fame ; as Rugby, the seat of a famous school, richly en- 
dowed, containing four hundred and fifty scholars, and, for 
many years, superintended by that eminent scholar and au- 
thor, Dr. Arnold ; Bolton Hall, the birth-place of Addison, 
and his residence for most of his life ; Nottingham, the birth- 
place of the youthful poet, Henry Kirke "White ; Sheffield, 
Leeds, visiting Kirkstall Abbey near by ; and York, where 
he admired its cathedral, walking entirely round it and meas- 
uring the size of its windows — seventy-five feet long and 
thirty broad, and attending the service with a congregation 
of fifteen hundred persons and hearing surpassing music by 
a large choir and an immense organ, containing 4444 pipes. 

Another has, in the following vivid sketch, described the 
impression made upon entering this cathedral : " If one has 
not previously beheld 

' The high embowed roof, 



With antique pillars, massy proof, 
And storied window, richly dight, 
Casting a dim religious light,' 



"o' 



a feeling, to which he must hitherto have been a stranger, 
will fill his enraptured soul ; and even if he has before vis- 
ited other cathedrals, every edifice he has seen will seem to 
shrink into insignificance when compared with 'this most 
august of temples.' 

" When the first echo, produced by the tread of the stran- 
ger's foot, resounds through the aisles, and the eye first 
glances down the incomparable vista of five hundred and 
twenty-four feet in length, an involuntary tremor thrills 



28 

through the whole frame, the senses appear overwhelmed 
by the novel sensation, and a secret power seems to whisper 
in the ear : ' Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place 
whereon thou standest is holy ground.' The soul rejoices 
in the amplitude of the vast expanse, ' the immortality that 
stirs within us' feels as if it had now entered a structure 
more worthy to« be its residence than the dwellings of mor- 
tality ; and as advance is made up the centre aisle of the 
nave, the mind is imperceptibly led from 'the house of God,' 
to the God of the house, to Him ' whom the heaven and the 
heaven of heavens cannot contain.' If, whilst the mind is 
absorbed in these reflections, the pealing of the organ begins 
to reverberate through the arches of the fabric, the visitor is 
almost persuaded into the belief that his mortal has put on 
immortality, and that the celestial attendants are already 
welcoming his spirit to the region of heavenly bliss : 

' Then let the pealing organ blow 
To the full-voiced choir below, 
In service high and anthems clear, 
As may with sweetness, through mine ear, 
Dissolve me into ecstasies, 
And bring all heaven before mine eyes.' " 

While in York, which is quite an ecclesiastical city, there 
being not less than twenty-one parish churches within the 
walls, and three outside ; most of them old, and every one 
worth going miles to see, Mr. Punchard visited the ruins 
of St. Mary's Abbey, enclosed in a wall with York Museum 
and an old Roman Castle, where Constantine the Great, the 
first Christian emperor of Rome, was quartered for several 
years, about the third century of the Christian era. The 
Abbey, which was destroyed in William the Conqueror's 
time, formerly covered about five acres. In York there is a 
beautiful promenade by the river Ouse, and along the walls 
of the city ; the walk commanding fine views of York itself 
and its noble minster. 

Monday, July 10th, Mr. Punchard went from York, by 
rail-road and stage, sixty-four miles, to the city of Durham, 



29 

where he notices, with admiration, the splendid cathedral, 
the venerable Castle, built by William the Conqueror, now 
the bishop's palace, and the imposing private residences ad- 
joining. The next day, Tuesday, July 11th, brought Mr. 
Punchard to Newcastle, where is a Castle erected by a son 
of "William the First. 

Wednesday, the 12th, after passing the battle-ground where 
the Earl of Douglass fell, in the desperate conflict of Otter- 
burne, in 1388, and where a monument stands to his memo- 
ry, Mr. Punchard crossed the Cheviot Hills, and entered the 
land of Wallace and Bruce, of Burns and Scott ; the region 
of thrilling history, and popular romance, stopping at night 
at Melrose, the seat of a famous Abbey, now in ruins. 

His visit to Abbotsford, immortalized as the residence of 
Walter Scott, Mr. Punchard must be allowed to narrate 
with his own pen. 

" Thursday morning, the 13th, I hired a carriage at Mel- 
rose, and, with the Rev. Samuel Washburn and Mrs. Wash- 
burn, started for Abbotsford. 

" After a delightful ride of three miles and a half, we came 
in full view of the turreted buildings, on a beautifully swel- 
ling eminence. We entered the grounds through a small 
though delightful park, filled with trees, many of them 
planted by Sir Walter himself, and a handsome stone gate- 
way, and then began our visit to the Mansion. 

" It is at present unoccupied except by two female servants 
and the gardener ; the present Sir Walter being with his 
regiment in India. 

" The Hall, or entrance room, is hung with armor and de- 
vices of the ancient Scottish clans. In this apartment we 
also saw the keys of the noted Tolbooth Prison of Edinburgh, 
before it was destroyed by the Porteus Mob. The largest 
key weighed at least seven pounds. The keys were, with 
the remains of the door, a present to Sir Walter. Here were, 
likewise, a French standard and Eagle, taken at Waterloo, 
and given him by George the Fourth, as well as a huge 
broad-sword, picked up in Bosworth Field, and glass win- 
dows beautifully stained and ornamented with coats-of-arms. 
From the Hall we went to the Breakfast-room, which, with 
the Dining-room, Drawing-room, and Armory, are all in a 

3* 



30 

range, with beautiful oak walls, most tastefully carved, and 
a balustrade around the whole, overlooking the Tweed. 

" In the Breakfast-room were books and pictures. In the 
Dining-room, we noticed five pictures, one of which, the 
head of Mary, Queen of Scots, taken after her execution, at- 
tracted our special attention. In this room stood an elegant 
table, made from the root of an oak, and presented to Sir 
Walter by the Duke of Buccleuch ; and many other interest- 
ing objects. 

" In the Armory, we were shown Hob Roy's gun and purse; 
King James's hunting-bottle of leather ; Claverhouse's pis- 
tols ; a pair of pistols formerly used by Napoleon, given Sir 
Walter by a French officer ; Ofar's double-barrelled rifle ; 
Tippoo Saib's slippers ; and numerous other articles of 
interest. 

" The Withdrawing-room is finished entirely with cedar ; 
while the paper was made in China expressly for Sir Wal- 
ter ; each piece varying from the rest in style. In this room 
is a very large and capital likeness of Sir Walter, with his 
two dogs ; also a bust, given him by Chantry, said to be the 
best in existence ; and a table, covered with a mosaic slab, 
and supporting a large porcelain vase, presented by Lord 
Byron ; likewise some beautiful ebony chairs, and arm- 
chairs, and a carved cabinet, the gift of George IV., who 
was a great patron of the poet. 

" In the Library are from fifteen to twenty thousand vol- 
umes of books, besides portraits of different members of Sir 
Walter's family, and also a revolving desk. 

" But his Study was, to us, the object of the greatest in- 
terest. About two-thirds of the way up its walls, this room 
has a gallery, which leads to the chamber used by him for 
retirement, writing, and study. Here we saw his old arm- 
chair, just as he left it, his desk, lamp, etc. 

" Connected with this chamber is a little cabinet, where, 
in a glass case, are the clothes last worn by him : coat, pan- 
taloons, vest, white hat, etc. ; while, hanging around the 
walls, were his pistols, sword, spurs, etc., which he used as 
one of the Yeoman Cavalry. 

" A very tasteful winding staircase, with stone steps, leads 
to the top of the building, running round a small tower. 

" I was surprised at the minuteness of taste displayed in 
everything by the recent owner of this delightful seat. 
There is a fine large garden, with green-houses attached ; 
while the murmuring Tweed, running behind, and the hills 



31 

beyond stretching away into mountain summits, make Ab- 
botsford the most romantic spot imaginable. 

" Sir Walter died in the Dining-room, which was used as 
a bed-room during the latter part of his illness. 

" Our female guide was very intelligent and communica- 
tive ; and we returned to our hotel, in Melrose, well pleased 
with our excursion." 

The evening of the day thus delightfully spent, found Mr. 
Punchard and his travelling companions in the literary city 
of Edinburgh, and pleasantly established in Prince's- street, 
where they remained for five successive days, visiting the 
interesting objects with which the metropolis of Scotland 
abounds. 

Chapter VIII. 

Edinburgh. Rob Roy's Country. English Lakes. 

As a New England man, seeing all foreign objects with 
New England eyes, Mr. Punchard was probably impressed 
by what he observed when abroad, very much as most of us 
would be, could we visit Great Britain. For this reason, 
while reading his accurate journals, we find ourselves deep- 
ly sympathizing with his movements, and perhaps uncon- 
sciously regarding him as our representative and substitute 
in all the observations he records. This has been the case 
hitherto ; and the same conviction will attend us as we ac- 
company him, still farther, in his walks and journeys. 

" Edinburgh is the most singularly built city I was ever in. 
It is built principally upon three elevated ridges or hills, run- 
ning east and west, with valleys perhaps one hundred and 
fifty feet deep between, and is connected by bridges, crossing 
the ravines. 

" The Old Town, which occupies the central ridge, has 
some handsome buildings ; but a greater number of tall ones, 
not remarkable for elegance. On the northern side of the 
declivity are houses in which I counted twelve stories, and I 
was informed that some are fourteen stories high. 

" The New Town, built upon the north ridge, is laid out 
with great regularity, and is very beautiful ; having wide 



32 

streets, adorned with plantations of trees, and squares, and 
elegant ranges of buildings. In front of our lodgings, in 
Prince's Street, is a public garden, extending a whole mile. 
Just beyond this is one of the valleys I have already men- 
tioned. On the opposite side is Edinburgh Castle, towering 
high above. It is situated on a lofty, precipitous rock, near 
four hundred feet above the level of the sea, and probably 
two hundred feet above us. This elevated rock and its crown- 
ing castle are exceedingly picturesque. The castle is acces- 
sible only on the eastern side, the other sides being perpen- 
dicular, and is garrisoned by a regiment of soldiers. 

" At the end of Prince's Street, about three-fourths of a 
mile south-east from us, is Calton Hill. This I ascended the 
morning after my arrival, and inspected the monuments 
there erected to Lord Nelson, to Burns, Scotia's favorite 
poet, and to Dugald Stewart, the philosopher. On the 
same commanding hill is the Observatory, and also a Na- 
tional Monument to commemorate the battle of Waterloo, 
in which so many Scotchmen slept their last sleep. The 
view from Calton Hill extends for miles, and is magnificent. 

" Near by is the Jail, a building of beautiful architecture, 
which, in a different place, would make a castle. 

" Just beyond, with sufficient space not to be associated 
with the Prison, is the High School, a tasteful range of build- 
ings. In the vicinity are some splendid houses, most of them 
built of stone. 

" Beyond Calton Hill is Arthur's Seat, a hill eight hun- 
dred and twenty feet high, and also Salisbury Crags. As 
you ascend these, you see Jennie Dean's Cottage. 

" Between Calton Hill and Arthur's Seat is Holyrood 
Palace, which I visited the first forenoon I was in Edin- 
burgh. Here I saw the bed of Charles I., and that of Mary 
Queen of Scots ; a chair, embroidered by herself, and a 
work-table ; also a double chair, in which she and Darnley 
sat to be married. It was a low seat, and covered with 
green tapestry. 

" Adjoining her bed-room is.a small cabinet, where, on the 
9th of March, 1566, she and the Countess of Argyle sat at 
supper with David Kizzio, when the conspirators, headed by 
Lord Lindsay, entered and murdered him. Near by is 
the secret staircase, through which they came. They first 
stabbed him in Mary's presence, as he was clinging to her 
dress for protection. They dragged him through her cham- 
ber and despatched him, at the head of the staircase, with 



33 

fifty-six wounds. The spot bears visible marks of the blood 
of the unfortunate Italian ; for his dead and weltering body- 
was not removed till morning. 

" In the cabinet is Darnley's armor, and likewise a por- 
trait of Rizzio, taken when he was nineteen years old, and 
brought by himself from Italy. It is one of the finest coun- 
tenances I ever saw ; and if it is a true likeness (and that it 
is, I have no doubt), I cannot blame Mary for admiring him. 

" In visiting the suite of apartments where are the memo- 
rials of past strifes and murders, I ascended not less than 
fifty-seven stone steps. To the traveller who has read an}^- 
thing at all of Scottish history, Holyrood Palace is, in every 
part, replete with the most thrilling interest." 

In his rambles around Edinburgh, Mr. Punchard passed, 
in High Street (which runs along the ridge occupied by the 
Old Town), the house where John Knox, the celebrated Scotch 
reformer, once lived. In the same street he saw the old ca- 
thedral church of St. Giles, and speaks of it as " a splen- 
did large building, with a tower similar to a crown." In 
this church John Knox often preached ; and, under the 
same roof, the Dean of Edinburgh, while attempting (July 
23, 1637) to conduct divine service according to the Scots' 
Liturgy, was driven from the house by an infuriated mob, 
first set on by the exciting cries of the famous Jenny Geddes. 

But we cannot longer tarry in this attractive city, even to 
visit, with Mr. Punchard, the University, a large pile of 
buildings, the National Academy, the Royal Exchange, and 
Heriot Hospital, where poor boys are educated at the ex- 
pense of a fund ; but must hasten, with him, by Dunferm- 
line and Sterling, to Loch Katrine, a lake immortalized by 
the poetry and romance of Sir Walter Scott. 

At Dunfermline, on the northern bank of the Forth, and 
fifteen miles north-west of Edinburgh, Mr. Punchard visited 
an old Abbey connected with a new church, and stood over 
the grave of Robert the Bruce, who, in the fourteenth cen- 
tury, won the battle of Bannockburn and restored the Scot- 
tish monarchy. Under the same church are the remains of 
not less than eight other kings of Scotland ; while here are 
also to be seen the grave and tombstone of Queen Marga- 



34 

ret, sister of Edgar Atheling, and wife of King Malcolm ; 
and the grave of Ralph Erskine, the first seceding minister, 
after the restoration of Charles II. 

In the afternoon of the same day, Wednesday, July 19, 
Mr. Punchard reached Stirling, an ancient city abounding 
with historical associations, as here kings were born, crowned, 
and buried ; and, in the vicinity, as many as twelve noted 
battles were fought, while Scotland was struggling to main- 
tain its independence. The prospect, from the top of Stir- 
ling Castle, is most enchanting. Looking to the east, you 
see the Cathedral, the town, the harbor, and the numberless 
windings of the shining Forth ; while, turning to the north- 
west, you have before you the tops of Ben Ledi, Ben Lo- 
mond, Ben Venue, and the whole mountain region of the 
Grampians. 

The next day, Thursday, July 20, after viewing the at- 
tractions of Stirling, Mr. Punchard started, in a private car- 
riage, for the lakes and mountains, and rode twenty-one 
miles to Aberfoil, where our townsman can best recount the 
incidents of his visit. 

" Friday, July 21. Ben Lomond in sight of us, and we 
are within five miles of Lake Katrine. 

" After breakfast, rode about four miles along the Aber- 
foil road, near Lake Ard, a beautiful sheet of water, and 
saw the Pass of Aberfoil. We then returned and crossed 
the mountains, a passage rarely attempted, with two horses, 
five miles and a half, to Lake Katrine. 

Drove to the inn called The Chrocan, near the banks of 
Loch Achray, and ordered refreshment. After recruiting 
our strength, we hastened to Lake Katrine, a mile and a 
half distant. Entered a boat ; and, with two Highlanders to 
row us, one of them reciting passages from Scott's Lady of 
the Lake nearly all the time, we made for Ellen's Isle, at 
the eastern extremity of the lake ; the residence of Ellen 
Douglass and her exiled father. We landed upon this 
small island, and ascended to its top, where we had an en- 
chanting view of the Silver Strand mentioned by Scott, and 
Ben Venue on the south, twenty-eight hundred feet above 
the sea, and Ben An on the north, with its cone-like sum- 
mit, inferior in height to its gigantic neighbor. Here we 



35 

saw also the Chasm, a narrow dark passage, between the 
two mountains, where James Fitz-James, according to the 
poem, lost his gallant gray. 

" Lake Katrine is four hundred feet above the ocean, and, 
in some places, five hundred feet deep ; and our sail upon 
the dark and cold waters of this mountain lake was delight- 
ful. 

" On returning to the inn, we dined upon trout caught in 
Lake Katrine, and admired the situation of The Chrocan, 
surrounded as it is with roses and flowering shrubs and 
vines, Lake Achray just in front, within a hundred yards, 
and the towering mountains all around. A more lovely 
spot cannot be imagined." 



This romantic region is sometimes denominated Rob Roy's 
country, and very justly, since the valley of Glengyle, which 
from the west end of Lake Katrine, stretches away to the 
north, was the birth-place of this famous Highland chief. 

On leaving the Trosachs, the name borne by the part of 
the Grampians visited by Mr. Punch ard, he returned to Stir- 
ling, by Loch Vennachar, a strip of deep, dark water, five 
miles in length, and Callander, a small village pleasantly 
situated on the banks of Teith ; and the same day, Satur- 
day, the 22d, reached Glasgow, where he spent his second 
Sunday in Scotland, hearing the distinguished Dr. Wardlaw 
preach in a towering pulpit, ascended by nineteen steps. 

Mr. Punchard's route from Glasgow to Liverpool lay 
through Paisley and Kilmarnock, near which he saw Moss- 
kill, the residence of Robert Burns, and the field where the 
poet " ploughed up the mouse." 

South of Mauchline, our traveller crossed the " water of 
Ayr," and saw the dell or ravine where Burns wrote one of 
his popular poems. The scenery around is beautiful. 

Old Cumnock, the vicinity of which was the principal seat 
of the wars of the Covenanters, is the next important place 
on the road. The house where Dugald Stewart was born, 
is not far from Cumnock. 

Drumlanerick is the seat of the Duke of Buccleuch, whose 
lands are so extensive that they include the town of Thorn- 



36 

hill and several villages ; and you are riding through his 
estate for the distance of ten miles. 

At Dumfries is the tomb of Burns ; while some thirty miles 
to the east is Gretna Green, where stands the celebrated 
White Hotel, the substitute for a church in the solemniza- 
tion of marriage. Soon " the Line," a small stream, between 
Scotland and England is crossed, and the rail-car hurries 
you on towards the ancient city of Carlisle, where is a Ro- 
man castle and a mediaeval cathedral, in which is the tomb 
of the farfamed Archdeacon Paley. 

After leaving Carlisle, Mr. Punchard expresses his admi- 
ration of the scenery in the neighborhood of Keswick, as pre- 
senting the romantic mountains of Cumberland, and its lakes 
interspersed. 



" Thursday, July 27. Took a boat at Keswick, and had a 
delightful excursion on Derwent- Water, three miles and a 
half long, and a mile and a quarter in its extreme breadth, 
with scattered islets, and Skiddaw rising over head. On 
landing saw, at Barrow House, a cascade, the Lodore of 
Southey's muse, one hundred and twenty feet high. Here, 
too, I had a view of Saddle Mountain, over three thousand 
feet high, and others of the Cumberland Hills standing 
close around the lake. Vicar Island is a beautiful object. 

" In this vicinity are the poet Southey's late residence, 
called Greta Hall, and Crosthwaite church, by the side of 
which he lies buried. His library and paintings were sold 
only a few days since, and at great prices. A Prayer-Book 
which cost, originally, but one shilling and sixpence, brought 
eleven pounds. I obtained some of his handwriting. I 
could not refrain visiting the lake Derwent- Water a second 
time ; and, ascending a hill close by, had a charming pros- 
pect. 

" Friday, July 28. In riding on the outside of the coach 
to-day, from Keswick to Lancaster, I passed Beeswater, 
Grassmere, in a sweet valley, the town of Ambleside, Ry- 
dal Water, Windermere, and Kendall. Near Rydal Water, 
saw Rydal Mount, the residence of Wordsworth the poet. 
Windermere, embosomed in mountains, is the largest lake 
in England, although not as attractive as Derwent- Water. 
Near Ambleside, and between the lakes Rydal Water and 



37 



Windermere, are many delightful seats, and the scenery is 
everywhere enchanting." 

We have thus accompanied Mr. Punchard in his delight- 
ful excursions, in England and Scotland, with the hope that 
the sketches exhibited may excite in the members of the 
school, founded by his generosity, a desire to study the his- 
tory of the places he visited. He has merely indicated the 
doors leading to well-furnished apartments of knowledge. 
If others, by finding the portals ajar, shall be induced to en- 
ter and enrich themselves with the accumulated contents, 
we shall not have journeyed together, even to this stage of 
our progress, without our reward. 



Chapter IX. 
Consummation of his purposes. Last illness and death. 

When Mr. Punchard returned from. England, in August, 
1843, his renovated health enabled him to engage in his pre- 
vious business with increased vigor. 

For years he had cherished the intention of erecting a 
mansion, which should be in accordance with his wants and 
tastes. After no little preparation, during the preceding 
years, he completed his design ; and, in 1846, established 
himself in the commodious and elegant house which was to 
prove to him his death-place. 

Perhaps the labor and anxiety attending this undertaking 
exceeded the strength of his delicate constitution ; for, in 
1848, he was again prostrated in health, and this to such a 
degree, that he considered it necessary for him to devise his 
property, and to seek, once more, a milder climate. The 
experiment was salutary ; and he returned home from Phil- 
adelphia, in the spring, with the confident expectation that 
a long life of health and enjoyment was in reserve for 
him. 

But his expectation was soon disappointed. New bodily 
infirmities manifested themselves. A painful and exhaust- 
ing surgical operation was deemed indispensable ; and he 

4 



•38 

was, for many tedious and distressing weeks, confined, not 
only to his room, but to his couch. The year 1850 opened 
upon him doubtfully. He was partially restored ; and the 
recollection of the benefits he derived from his former so- 
journ at the South, induced him to repeat the journey. 
Pale, thin, enfeebled, he left the comforts of his home to ex- 
perience the discomforts of hotels and boarding-houses, and 
the exhaustion resulting from protracted rides in rail-cars. 
He lingered, by the way, at New York, Philadelphia, Balti- 
more, Richmond, and Charleston, and went as far as Savan- 
nah. He had gone beyond his strength. The infirmities of 
his whole adult life were concentrated for a fatal assault. 
The spring of life was broken. Recovery was impossible. 

It is painful to peruse the letters, sometimes almost 
illegible, from his feeble hand and failing sight, which he, 
during the latter weeks of his absence, sent to his family. 

" Could I spend next Sunday in Andover, I would give 
the best one hundred dollars I ever had. Nothing, in my 
opinion, but sitting down quietly at home will restore me, 
even if that will. I have neither appetite nor digestion, and 
sick to death of the manner in which I live. Many invalids 
come out South, and suffer for what they leave behind. 

" My eyes trouble me very much. At Weldon, I had to 
get a black boy to pilot me from the station to the hotel. I 
am just in that state when there seems to be a sinking of 
the system, and no food nourishes me. I have had a les- 
son, I assure you. Would that I were at home ; but I must 
keep up as much heart as possible, and try to be satisfied 
with what the Lord, in his wise providence, sends me. 
This is a most unfortunate journey for my health ; but it 
may do me good as a man, and mend my disposition. I do 
not complain much, but probably think the more. I must 
submit with patience ; and if this is the last, so it must be. 
I am in the hands of God, who orders all things well." 

The sad finale to this distressing drama, was not long de- 
layed. Mr. Punchard, in great debility both of body and 
mind, reached the home for which he had so afFectingly 
mourned, the 14th of March. Everything which medical 
skill and affectionate care could attempt, was done for him ; 



39 

but to no effect. His powers were exhausted ; and after 
lingering until the 4th of April, he expired, surrounded by 
his weeping family and relatives, and while the minister 
who had baptized him, and often broken to him the bread of 
life, was commending his departing spirit into the almighty 
hands of his gracious Redeemer and Saviour. 

His funeral was the following Sunday, the 7th, attended 
in Christ Church ; when, in a discourse founded upon these 
words of Christ — " Be ye also ready ; for, in such an hour 
as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh " — the subjoined 
observations were made. 

Chapter X. 
Mr. Punchard' s character. 

" This is the solemn language with which our Saviour ad- 
dresses each one of us, at all times ; but most forcibly on 
this sorrowful occasion, when we are assembled to bear, to 
their long rest in the silent grave, the remains of a prominent 
citizen, who filled a large space in this community ; an ex- 
emplary and useful Christian, whose unexpected death his 
fellow Christians deeply deplore ; and one of the pious and 
generous founders, members, and patrons of this important 
church. 

Of the deceased as a man of intelligence and energy, of 
decision and enterprise, of activity and integrity, of prudence 
and taste, it is hardly necessary now to speak, since his resi- 
dence of nearly twenty years in this village, has rendered his 
excellences, in these respects, familiar to this whole neighbor- 
hood ; and yet I cannot refrain giving my own impressions 
of his character as a man. 

In the native qualities of his mind and heart, there was a 
happy combination of acuteness and strength, of kindness 
and benevolence. Modest and retiring, he rather avoided 
than courted public life ; while in the formation and prose- 
cution of his plans, he was sagacious and prudent, decided 
and persevering. Uniting practical good sense with great 
strength of will and stability of purpose, he was quick to 



40 

decide and prompt to execute. These qualities, so essen- 
tial to success in every pursuit, were, in him, adorned by a 
refined taste, and guided, in the last years of his life, by the 
habitual desire of being rendered useful to others. 

Respecting his character as a disciple of the incarnate Son 
of God, I must attempt a more full and definite sketch ; for, 
while not a few of us will have occasion, so long as we live, 
to remember with gratitude his great kindness ; yet his 
Christian experience and example is the rich treasure he has 
left to every one ; and by which all may be admonished 
and benefited. 

In the piety of our departed brother, there were several 
characteristics, which may God give us all grace to remem- 
ber, and sedulously to imitate. 

The deceased entertained a profound sense of Ids responsibil- 
ity to his almighty Lord. After years of exertion, self-denial, 
and bodily infirmity, he at length found himself in a successful 
and lucrative business. But as his pecuniary means, through 
the blessing of Providence, increased, his feeling of obliga- 
tion to his heavenly Father seems to have increased in cor- 
responding proportion. To his minister he repeatedly ob- 
served : " I habitually endeavor to appropriate to myself 
that affecting petition in our Litany — " Good Lord, deliver 
us, in all time of our prosperity ; " thus showing how fully 
he realized the spiritual dangers attending prosperity, not less 
than adversity ; from which dangers he constantly prayed to 
be delivered ; lest he should neglect his Christian vows, for- 
get his Saviour, and lose his own soul. 

The deceased also often expressed to his minister the de- 
sire to be made, by God, an instrument of blessing- to his fel- 
low-men. This pious desire he was allowed to see, in some 
measure at least, gratified. To his own family he was most 
faithful, kind, and indulgent ; maintaining domestic wor- 
ship, and striving to place before his household the pattern 
of a consistent Christian life. To his extended circle of rela- 
tives, many of whom Providence had deprived of other ad- 
visers and protectors, he endeared himself strongly ; being 
to some truly an affectionate and provident son ; to others, 



41 

a devoted brother and unwearied friend, a wise counsellor, 
and a safe guardian. Had he, then, lived merely for his 
family and relatives, he would not have lived without con- 
ferring great and lasting benefits. 

But his Christian affection took a much wider range ; for 
he loved, with an enlarging and undying love, the church 
into which he had been baptized. To the church of the Re- 
deemer he, accordingly, gave not only his prayers, but freely 
and systematically of his worldly substance. Nor, in con- 
tributing towards the erection of this house of God, were 
his pious wishes by any means frustrated. Precious souls 
have here already been born and prepared for heaven ; and 
these priceless fruits of the Lord's perfecting, are but sure 
pledges of the continued harvest which he will hereafter, 
within these hallowed walls, gather unto the praise and 
glory of his transforming and renewing grace. 

The piety of him, whose sudden removal from this life we 
all deeply lament, was marked by another valuable trait, 
which must not be overlooked in this imperfect outline of his 
Christian character. Habitual distrust of himself. It is pre- 
sumed, no minister of his ever heard him express any very 
strong confidence respecting his spiritual state. He firmly 
believed in Christ, in his deity, in his expiatory atonement, 
and meritorious and justifying sacrifice, and in his almighty 
power to save ; and yet he felt himself to be an unworthy 
sinner, saved only by the grace of the Divine Word made 
flesh, and not by any righteousness or merits of his own. 
Among the very few observations he was able to make, during 
his last week with us, was this remark : " I deserve nothing 
of God ; but I cast myself into his merciful hands ; " at the 
same time regretting that his Christian life had not been 
one of greater devotedness and zeal. He felt and acknowl- 
edged himself an unprofitable servant, while he still confided 
in the mercy of his heavenly Master. He likewise painfully 
appreciated the spiritual hindrances he had experienced from 
his incessant and engrossing cares; and desired to live, if God 
would permit, that he might have a longer space to prepare 
for his great change. But an inscrutable Providence had or- 



42 

dered differently ; and to this sovereign decision he bowed 
with quiet submission, and expired, so far as his friends 
could judge, in tranquillity and peace." 

When these remarks were uttered at his thronged funeral, 
the speaker was not aware of the manner in which Mr. Punch - 
ard had disposed of his property ; and consequently, justice 
was not done his benevolent affections and generous liberal- 
ity. When his Will was opened, it appeared that the same 
affectionate interest he had ever manifested for the welfare 
of the church, of which he had been repeatedly both a Ves- 
tryman and a Warden, was still farther evinced by a bequest 
of $7,000 ; the interest of $5,000 of which is to be perma- 
nently applied towards the support of the Rector. 

Besides the large fund of $70,000, to found the Free School, 
which bears his name, there were other bequests and residu- 
ary legacies to Missionary and other Christian societies, 
amounting to more than ten thousand dollars. 

In addition to these sums, there are in his Will legacies 
" appropriated," on certain contingencies, " for the estab- 
lishment of an Asylum, in Andover, for the benefit of or- 
phans and indigent children." 

Nor was it known, until after his decease, what a dili- 
gent and prayerful student of the word of God he had been 
for many years. In all his wanderings, the Bible was his 
constant companion ; and the worn pages of his own pocket- 
copy show how incessantly he there held intimate commu- 
nion with his Redeemer and Lord. In establishing his Free 
School, he has made the daily perusal of the Sacred Oracles, 
and the daily oblation of the Lord's Prayer, both by the 
teachers and scholars, the indispensable conditions on which 
they can enjoy his benefactions. From his own daily expe- 
rience, he knew the priceless value of the Inspired Volume, 
and of access to the mercy-seat; and he would have all 
whom he could influence drink habitually at the same living, 
purifying, and refreshing fountain, and learn to call at all 
times by diligent prayer for God's special grace. 

It is, then, our high privilege to present the Founder of 
our Free School as a pattern of the moral virtues and Chris- 



43 

tian graces we desire our children and every fellow-citizen 
to possess and cultivate. "We all admire his munificence ; 
let all, at the same time, imitate not only this, but every 
other excellence of .his character, as well as labor and pray 
to acquire and perfect every habit manifested in his renewed 
and pious life. 

Every summer since his departure from this world, have 
his bereaved family watered the grass and cherished the 
flowers carpeting and overshadowing his premature grave. 
May his loved memory be ever green and flourishing ! 
May his fragrant example ever be, to all eyes, bright and 
captivating ; to all hearts, admonitory and refreshing ! " 

" Blessed are the dead, who die in the Lord ; even so, 
saith the Spirit : for they rest from their labors, and their 

WORKS DO FOLLOW THEM." 



As time rolls on, and his friends and associates, in whose recollection he 
still lives, pass successively away, and there remains no one who remem- 
bers him ; the citizens of Andover may desire to know something of the 
personal appearance of the man, who is thus so largely benefiting the town : 
for their gratification, we subjoin the following. 

Mr. Punchard was of medium height, measuring five feet and nine 
inches, and rather slightly built. When in his very best health, his weight 
was only one hundred and fifty pounds : ordinarily, it was much less. His 
complexion, hair, and eyes, were dark ; the latter, small, deep-set, and 
piercing. His head was large, and his forehead high, full, and projecting. 
His figure was erect and commanding ; his step quick and firm ; his voice 
high-toned ; and his speech, prompt, accurate, and rapid. 



M^f ZZ&0- 



MEMOIR 



OP 



BENJAMIN HANOVER PUNCHARD, 



THE FOUNDER 



or 



THE PUNCHARD FREE SCHOOL 



ANDOVER, MASS., 



Who died April 4th, 1850, in the 51st year of his age. 



PREPARED AT T HE REQUEST OF THE TOWN 



ANDOVER: 
PRINTED BY WARREN F. DRAPER 

1 857. 



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